Walmart Experiments With Self-Driving AI Delivery Vehicles To Meet Demand
Image via Argo AI
In a new partnership with Argo AI and Ford, American retail giant Walmart is testing out autonomous vehicle last-mile delivery services in Miami; Austin, Texas; and Washington DC.
Each company brings the best of its products to the table: Argo AI provides the self-driving system to be implemented in the Ford self-driving test vehicles, while Walmart has the products and customers, of course.
Argo AI will use its cloud-based system to integrate with Walmart’s platform for online shopping. Routes and schedules will be calculated before dispatching the Ford vehicles to customers’ doorsteps, packages in tow.
“Our focus on the testing and development of self-driving technology that operates in urban areas where customer demand is high really comes to life with this collaboration,” states Bryan Salesky, founder and CEO of Argo AI, in the announcement.
“Working together with Walmart and Ford across three markets, we’re showing the potential for autonomous vehicle delivery services at scale.”
The service, planned for multiple cities, will allow customers to place online orders and expect the products to reach their homes within the same day or on the next day, a feat only manageable at a large scale with technology such as autonomous delivery.
As stated by Tom Ward, senior vice president of last-mile delivery at Walmart, the collaboration and the technology yielded from it will “further our mission to get products to the homes of our customers with unparalleled speed.”
We’ve spent more time at home in the last year than perhaps ever before, and the popularity of Australia’s drone deliveries has shown that demand for same-day or next-day delivery isn’t going to fade out soon.
This isn’t an entirely new collaboration, though; Ford and Argo AI are already collaborating on self-driving ride-hailing services in Miami and Austin, two of the areas that are being included in this new scheme.
Although this service is being introduced in just three areas so far, the companies are “aggressively preparing” to expand the network over time if this proves successful.
We are collaborating with @Walmart and @Ford to bring an autonomous goods delivery service to customers in Miami, Austin, and D.C. — Walmart’s first multi-city autonomous delivery collaboration in the U.S. https://t.co/05ryU3yU0g pic.twitter.com/RNKClxbCjJ
— Argo AI (@argoai) September 15, 2021
[via Input, image via Argo AI]
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